Tag Archive: community


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Doing the BCM Restorative Justice unit, here’s a link to one of the articles.

“This theology of radical inclusion was disconcerting to both Jewish ethnocentrism and Hellenistic ideologies of superiority.  In Greco-Roman antiquity the cultural, economic and political enmity between Jew and Gentile was profound. These two communities were institutionally and historically alienated—not unlike the modern legacy of racial apartheid or the protracted struggle between Israelis and Palestinians or Protestant Loyalists and Catholic Republicans in Northern Ireland. But Paul refused to abide by the social divisions around him, instead trying to build bridges called churches.”

So here I sit with:

  • who is reconciliation to be accomplished by?
  • what do we refuse to abide by?
  • who/where are the bridge builders? (or alternative societies being modelled)?
  • what are we called to be fools for?

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Facilitated by Christop Booth from the Indigenous Hospitality House, in this bible study series we will seek to make connections between the story of the nation of Israel told in Lamentations and our own national story. We will look to see whether this book may help us to address our shared histories of displacement and endeavour to distill how we might move forward as a nation in light of the biblical example.

Connection to Community

Who do you think of as community?

What forms of sharing are undertaken within these communities? (what is personal, what is communal?)

Read Lamentations 5

What type of people made up the Israelite community?

What did they share together? What experiences/materials/stories?

How connected were the Israelite people to one another at the time this poem was written?

What do we think of when we think of Aboriginal communities?

Watch clip from move The Sapphires [singing for soldiers during the war, Manager is injured and they’re separated, have to decide to go on or go back]

What kind of sharing takes place?

What part does shared suffering play in the building of community or extent of connectedness experienced?

Does being Aboriginal increase the likelihood of connection experienced by an individual? Does belief in God?

Can we identify any other factors which promote community building and connectedness?

How might we offer and/or provide aspects if community connectedness for others and ourselves at a local, national and international level?

 

 

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The following are some of the values which outline the purpose and core ideology of the community and are used to guide and inform our decision-making. It is always good to start off a new year checking in – are these still relevant? how are we doing? what might these look like in the year ahead?

Partnering with God

We value the opportunity of participating in the Missio Dei (mission of God). Through persistence in prayer, we seek to recognise where God is at work in Footscray, and become co-workers with Christ.
Biblical basis: Psalm 127:1, Luke 18:7, 1 Cor 3:9

In it for the long haul

We value being a constant in an inconsistent world, expecting and persevering through hard times.  Our long-term commitment allows us to build trust and respect with those in our community, as we try to reflect God’s unconditional love and grace.
Biblical basis: Hebrews 10:36

Being amongst the people

We value sharing life with our neighbours, as a real expression of the kingdom amongst the marginalised. Our everyday involvement and identification means our mission is not so much what we do, but who we are.
Biblical basis: John 1:14, Philippians 2:1-11

Seeking justice for the poor

We value God’s priority for the poor and seek to prioritise the marginalised of Footscray.  We do not want to just show mercy, but instead offer in our lives, in voice and activity, with those who we seek to serve.
Biblical basis: Jeremiah 22:16, James 2: 1-5

Becoming family

We value the intimacy of relationship we can have with Christ, and the belonging found in growing closer to God and therefore to each other.  Our goal is to be family for those facing loneliness and social isolation.
Biblical basis: 1 John 3:16-18, John 13: 34-35

Being honest about who we are

We value the humility and forgiveness required to live transparent lives in community.  We want to submit to each other in accountability and honesty, allowing Christ to use our weaknesses and failings.
Biblical basis: 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, 2 Corinthians 3:18

Doing the hard yards

We value servanthood in the big and the small – choosing to do the “crappy” stuff.  We want to be people of personal and spiritual maturity (enduring personal cost) in order that the vision is accomplished.
Biblical basis: James 5:7-11

Travelling light

We value the difference that can be made when we sacrifice personal gain, pouring out our rich resources in an act of worship.  Through simplicity, good stewardship and a common commitment to sharing our lives with others, we seek to lessen the power imbalance in Footscray.
Biblical basis: Luke 9:23-24

 

 

We are a prayerful house

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I woke at 5am today, I am trying not to fight that but listen in my body or for You.

I rise and go out to the garden and read Seven Sacred Pauses by the light of my phone.
I will keep vigil with You.  Quiet and still. Peaceful… and still a blue-beat of JOY from the soccer pitch…

I come back in passing Hawo – she has washed in purifying preparation for her own morning prayers on the mat in the lounge facing Mecca. It occurs to me that, perhaps by the time Hawo has prayed, Maria and her son will rise to say their morning Catholic prayers together before the icons on her dressing table… Bron working, a vigil of her own through the night, healing and helping.

We are a prayerful house. Not together, but prayerful seeking to talk with You and to listen.

Let us listen, and speak and keep watch, all the hours of the day.

Amen

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Love: Advent 2015

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Today we shared lunch, laughs and beautiful food with people that we love. We gave everyone a gift hamper of love. The Yarrambat House Church community once again serving us a beautiful Christmas lunch.

 

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prayer by Bron Hayward

Joy: Advent 2015

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The Joy Of Little Things

by Robert William Service

It’s good the great green earth to roam,
Where sights of awe the soul inspire;
But oh, it’s best, the coming home,
The crackle of one’s own hearth-fire!
You’ve hob-nobbed with the solemn Past;
You’ve seen the pageantry of kings;
Yet oh, how sweet to gain at last
The peace and rest of Little Things!

Perhaps you’re counted with the Great;
You strain and strive with mighty men;
Your hand is on the helm of State;
Colossus-like you stride .
.
.
and then
There comes a pause, a shining hour,
A dog that leaps, a hand that clings:
O Titan, turn from pomp and power;
Give all your heart to Little Things.

Go couch you childwise in the grass,
Believing it’s some jungle strange,
Where mighty monsters peer and pass,
Where beetles roam and spiders range.

‘Mid gloom and gleam of leaf and blade,
What dragons rasp their painted wings!
O magic world of shine and shade!
O beauty land of Little Things!

I sometimes wonder, after all,
Amid this tangled web of fate,
If what is great may not be small,
And what is small may not be great.

So wondering I go my way,
Yet in my heart contentment sings .
.
.

O may I ever see, I pray,
God’s grace and love in Little Things.

So give to me, I only beg,
A little roof to call my own,
A little cider in the keg,
A little meat upon the bone;
A little garden by the sea,
A little boat that dips and swings .
.
.

Take wealth, take fame, but leave to me,
O Lord of Life, just Little Things.

 


 

And we had a backyard concert with Mezz Coleman – harmony in our hearts and in our home…

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Peace: Advent 2015

These are some of our reflections on peace.

What is peace?

Do we have it? How do we know we don’t?

How can we get it? What can we do?

We make wreathes out of the rosemary, olive branches and bay leaves growing in our garden – symbols of evergreen to represent everlasting life brought through Jesus and the circular shape of the wreath represents God, with no beginning and no end.

Rosemary – an emblem of both fidelity and remembrance

Olive branch – used for pleading for peace and a sign after the great flood that the dove found land and a promise it would not flood again.

Bay laurel – laurel wreath – victory.

 

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Prayer by Bron Hayward

Hope: Advent 2015

These are some of the hopes of our community.

 

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Prayer written by Bron Hayward

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